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This paper aims to analyze the potential and limitations of donor-financed management tools that seek to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Drawing on key insights from three streams of literature relating to institutional theory, critical perspectives on CSR in developing countries and the literature on CSR and SMEs in the developing world, the potential and limits of donor-financed management tools aimed at promoting CSR in developing country SMEs are analyzed.

Using official UN and Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development lists of all multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, 38 donors that might have produced such CSR tools were identified. The authors contacted them via e-mail and/or telephone, and conducted an extensive Internet search with the aim of identifying whether they had developed management tools aimed at promoting CSR in SMEs in developing countries. The authors then scrutinized the contents of the 11 tools identified and examined the extent to which these tools accord attention to contextual differences and specific peculiarities of institutional environments in developing countries; the extent to which these tools account for the silent or sunken aspects of CSR which have been prominently highlighted in the SME – CSR literature; and the extent to which these tools accord attention to the paramount concern for poverty alleviation in developing countries.

Overall, the analysis testifies to the continued predominant orientation of these tools to the context of larger firms in developed countries, with insufficient tailoring or customization to the specific realities of SMEs in the South.

In-depth interviews with aid agency personnel, SMEs, workers or community members were not conducted. Hence, this study should be seen as an initial, exploratory desk study of the potential and limits of management tools aimed at promoting CSR in SMEs in the developing world.

It is suggested that donor agencies could develop such tools in a bottom-up fashion by first mapping the silent CSR practices of SMEs in developing countries and then use this as a basis for strengthening existing CSR activities in SMEs instead of trying to impose new priorities from the outside. This might enhance the local relevance and applicability of these management tools.

The study is likely to be the first analysis of the potential and limits of management tools that are developed by donor agencies with the aim of promoting CSR in SMEs in developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate accounting and performance reporting practices embraced in the midst of a pluralistic institutional environment of an emerging economy (EE), Zambia. The research is necessitated due to the increased presence and influence of donor institutions whose information needs may not conform to the needs of local citizens in many EEs.

The study draws on institutional pluralism and Ekeh’s post-colonial theory of “two publics” to depict pluralistic environments that are typical of EEs. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 33 respondents drawn from the main stakeholder groups involved in health service delivery including legislators, policy makers, regulators, healthcare professionals and health service managers. Data analysis took the form of thematic analysis which involved identifying, analysing and constructing patterns and themes implicit within the data that were deemed to address the study’s research questions.

Findings indicate that Zambia’s institutional environment within the health sector is highly fragmented and pluralistic as reflected by the multiplicity of both internal and external stakeholders. These stakeholder groups equally require different reporting mechanisms to fulfil their information expectations.

The multiple reporting practices evident within the health sector entail that the effectiveness of health programmes may be compromised due to the fragmentation in goals between government and international donor institutions. Rather than pooling resources and skills for maximum impact, these practices have the effect of dispersing performance efforts with the consequence of compromising their impact. Fragmented reporting equally complicates the work of policy makers in terms of monitoring the progress and impact of such programmes.

Beyond Goddard et al. (2016), the study depicts the usefulness of Ekeh’s theory in understanding how organisations and institutions operating in pluralistic institutional environments may be better managed. In view of contradictory expectations of accounting and performance reporting requirements between the civic and primordial publics, the study indicates that different practices, mechanisms and structures have to be embraced in order to maintain institutional harmony and relevance to different communities within the health sector.

This paper seeks to evaluate the recent decision of the Bangladeshi Government and accounting profession to adopt international accounting standards (IASs).

The paper uses a variety of archival data and interviews with key actors, including preparers and users of annual reports, members of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and members of the professional accounting bodies: ICAB and ICMAB.

The paper finds that institutional legitimisation is a major factor that drives the decision to adopt IASs because of the pressure exerted by key international donor/lending institutions on the Bangladeshi Government and professional accounting bodies. Such pressure results from not only the need to provide credibility to foreign investors but also the need for strong accountability arrangements with lending/donor agencies. However, the perceived undemocratic nature of the adoption process appears to be creating and enhancing conflict among various constituencies, resulting in very low compliance with these standards.

The paper contributes to the understanding of the diffusion of International Accounting Standards and the role of global agencies, such as the World Bank, within this process.

This paper aims to focus on building an interpretive framework for understanding accounting practices and changes, drawing on the situationist concept of the “spectacle”.

The paper reviews the existing accounting and management literature in light of the concept of the spectacle. The paper presents empirical illustrations of participatory budgeting as a form of the spectacle and the role of donor agencies in local government reforms in Uganda, based on interviews and observations.

It is argued that the transformational – rather than just metaphoric – dimension of the spectacle has the potential to provide a better understanding of accounting practices and their transformations in the context of ever‐changing capitalism, and to further contribute to the critical accounting literature. Drawing on Debord's work, the paper also extends one's understanding of why donor agencies export ideas, including accounting practices and technologies.

The paper further enriches the possibility of critical consciousness and praxis in transforming and shaping the spectacle. By understanding the construction of the spectacle and its transformations, as Boje et al. argued, avenues for resistance are opened up.

The paper provides a perspective for the understanding of accounting changes, and it should open up avenues for further research regarding various forms of the spectacle that involve accounting techniques and practices.

This chapter explores how neoliberal higher education reforms in the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) during the 1990s and 2000s were shaped by the history of governance, schooling, and foreign donor involvement in the country following its independence in 1961. Against this backdrop, I examine how concepts of private versus public leadership, individualism, competition, and education’s place in the overall development scheme shifted over time, and the influence these changing conceptualizations had on the role of universities in Tanzania by the end of the first decade of the 21st century. In an international environment in which powerful funding agencies see neoliberal higher education policies and “knowledge societies” as the key to increased national competitiveness and poverty eradication in sub-Saharan Africa, this chapter shows how changes embedded in recent market-centered university reforms – in which the state is said to “steer” rather than “row” – have influenced the quest for equitable development.

Donors promoting public sector institutional reforms do not clearly understand what works and why. Yet, despite the limited practical knowledge of how to reform and build high-quality public sector institutions, the ambitions and the scope of donor-promoted institutional reforms have been increasing. Over the last five decades, various bilateral, regional, and international development agencies – such as the U.K.'s Department for International Development (DFiD), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank (WB), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OSCE), and others – have experimented with different approaches to promoting development, with little coordination and consensus. In the last two decades, donors have converged in their approach to development by emphasizing institutions – governance mechanisms, including rules and organizations that structure individual and organizational behavior. Research and experience have led to the acceptance that strong, effective government institutions are essential for addressing donors’ key concerns in developing countries, concerns including poverty, corruption, and, especially since 9/11, security. Emphasis on country ownership further highlights the importance of institutional reform as part of donors’ capacity-building agenda. Therefore, donors’ emphasis on institutional reforms in developing countries has significantly increased as a share of their total lending and technical assistance.

Contrary to what one might expect, some of the least economically advanced regions of the world enjoy well established management development systems. This paper explores management development in parts of Eastern Africa and shows that, although the per capita income there is only one‐hundredth of that in industrialized countries, the region’s MDIs (management development institutions) benefit from a wide variety of influences. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the MDI offerings in the region, past attempts to overcome the weaknesses, and challenges yet to be met. It suggests how international donor agencies could work more closely with government agencies and the management community in the region to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of management development there.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the financial challenges experienced by non-profit organisations (NPOs) when implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in South Africa. These challenges have a negative impact on NPOs because they impede the successful implementation of CSR projects.

A qualitative research method and a purposive sampling strategy were used in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 employees from three NPOs in South Africa from the education, enterprise development and health and social development sectors. Content analysis was used to examine the data.

The findings revealed that NPOs in South Africa experience serious financial resource challenges, notably, overreliance on donor funding; difficulty in obtaining donor funding; limited donor funding available; intense competition from other non NPOs to secure donor funding; donors unwilling to fund operational costs and prescribing exactly how funds should be used; and donors signing non-binding contracts on the provision of funding.

The sample size of the study was small, namely, three NPOs from Gauteng Province (Johannesburg) in South Africa. Therefore, this study covered only one geographic area of South Africa and the findings cannot be generalised across other provinces of the country.

The results of this study could have implications for donors and NPO employees involved in CSR activities in South Africa.

This study bridges a gap in literature by revealing the key financial challenges experienced by South African NPOs in implementing CSR initiatives and the impact of those challenges on their CSR efforts.

This paper aims to report the findings of a study, which analysed the strengths and limitations of two distinct concepts used for post‐disaster housing reconstruction, namely, the donor‐driven and owner‐driven approaches.

Data were gathered through interviews, questionnaire survey and observations from government, non‐government organizations and the beneficiaries of owner‐driven and donor‐driven programmes in one of the affected districts.

The paper reveals that beneficiary satisfaction is higher on owner‐driven approach compared to the donor‐driven approach. Further, imposition of the buffer zone, non‐availability of suitable land and capacity constraints of the construction industry are identified as critical factors affecting the success of donor‐driven housing programme.

It was assumed that the quickest and most effective way to rebuild houses after a disaster is to employ the “donor‐driven” approach, where the government or an external funding agency leads the reconstruction process with the help of consultants and contractors procured for the project. Contrary to this popular view, this paper finds that there are limitations in this approach and that it may lead to housing that does not respond to needs of victims.

This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of the two strategies used in housing reconstruction and highlights the need for building regulations and technical assistance as key to overcome limitations of the owner‐driven approach.

The purpose of this paper is to trace the impact that the ecological approach has in international development programs in both the USA and Europe. It discusses the applications of sustainability by international donor agencies among bilateral and multi‐lateral organizations in developing economies. It outlines the influence of sustainability in the US Federal Government agencies to protect and maintain environmentally‐based development programs.

The paper compares industrial ecology and ecological anthropology approaches to sustainability development. It discusses their policy implications for international development assistance programs. It describes how anthropological and sociological approaches to sustainability have impacted the development policies and programs of bilateral and multilateral organizations, as well as those of multi‐national corporations.

There are common sustainability trends among the four competing donor organizations in approaching sustainability development by bilateral and multilateral international development organizations. These organizations – the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, the United Nations and its affiliated Organizations, and the US Federal government agencies, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency – have shaped and influenced the policies and programs of sustainability development in business organizations and in developing economies.

Sustainability has been a subject of interest in international development assistance programs in both bilateral and multilateral organizations since the 1970s. Over time, the subject of sustainability received prominence in the developed world. It can be argued that sustainability has its roots in the developing economy and has been adapted/modified to meet the environmental and natural resources conservation and management policies of the developed economies.